Political Partying

As has been very evident over the last few months and weeks in Britain there is a great complexity in all things democratic.

It is not down to lack of practice amongst the voting public as this nation is well used to taking on the ballot box. The right to vote is generally cherised and to be valued even if not as many of us exercise that right as regularly as we should.

In 2005 a games company brought out the first edition of what has now become a modern classic , namely "Democracy".

It works on the principal mechanisms of a diverse voter profile with the population being divided up into different groups. Each individual in their group can however have multiple interests, for example political affiliation may be for Socialism and yet there will be vested interests if that person is also a commuter, car driver, in a certain pay grade bracket or also dependent on their age, young or senior.

The Democracy game puts the players in charge of a country or a region seeking independence and they seek the opinion and input from the electorate in the many different policy sectors from taxation and education to foreign policy and healthcare.

The aim of the game is to make the right decisions to generate the wealth and happiness that keeps the public on your side and you in office for as long as possible.

A few mishaps, mistakes, global events and Acts of God all intervene to try to throw you out , all making for a challenging and thought provoking few hours over the duration of a typical session with family, friends or colleagues.

The designers of this foray into the sphere of Government Policy and Political devices have seen the process as very enlightening and indeed some have expressed admiration and respect for actual politicians and activists for what they have to do.

Politics is a matter of having to compromise on many fronts.

We see those individuals in public service as Members of Parliament with great idealism and beliefs but yet this rarely coincides with the ability to sell the dream to the majority of the electorate which is needed to earn a mandate for policy making.

It is not surprising therefore that politicians do crazy things in a mad scramble, as Polling Day approaches, just to increase their popularity and votes.This has been through such stunts as riding on a tank, abseiling, building a monument to a manifesto and having a water fight on opposing boats on the River Thames.

The 2005 version of Democracy has not been allowed to stagnate and after continual reviews we are now, in 2016, at version 3.

In hindsight, the earlier manifestations were based on a certain rationality. This is not a criticism as in classic economics the electorate are assumed to be able to get full information on every policy and therefore vote with rationality.

In practice it is very different and perhaps no more aptly demonstrated  than in the very recent Referendum on EU membership in Britain. We tend to vote for things that affect or are seen as a threat to our own lives and livelihoods.

There is also an endorsement or otherwise of personality in those engaged in politics.

We may place a high weighting on trustworthiness, leadership qualities, the common touch and compassion although a skilled exponent can easily win over or dupe the public in equal measure. Again, being British, we have had first hand experience of this and very recently indeed.

Some voters may be discouraged from ever participating again because of a feeling of having been misled and that in itself is a great, great pity and a loss to the democratic standing of the nation.

It is unfortunate that Democracy 3 was sub-titled "Take Control of Your Country" as that particular battle cry is also a bit grubby and sullied from how it was devisively used  in the Referendum Campaign.

As a reflection of the precarious position that global politics finds itself in currently the 3rd version also has an "Extremist Expansion" gameplay and my own geographical area under the title of "The Independent Republic of Yorkshire" features as a popular theme.

The usual market research and focus group input on behalf of the game producer has recorded an upsurge in interest from younger citizens who enjoy debating and arguing for and against the issues under debate .

This does give some encouragement for the future for a well informed and independently minded electorate although it is yet to be seen if this group remains sufficiently motivated after seeing their voice drowned out by the very defined age related voting statistics from the In/Out Vote.